What dreams may come...
by Condor5
Summary: What happens when Ginny and Harry meet in the world of dreams? Will Ginny be able to help Harry? This is the G/H story that I promised. Enjoy!
1. Wish on a falling star

**A/N: **Sorry for the wait, but it was a little hard trying to think up a suitable story to tell. I was getting a little tired of all those stories where Harry sudden falls in love with Ginny, for no reason that I could see at all, so I decided to try something different and see what the results would be. I am not sure if this idea of mine had already been used or not as I could not possibly have read all 20000 odd Harry Potter fanfics posted on fanfic.net. So if the idea had been used before, just let me know and I will try to think of another plot for a G/H story.

         I might not be able to update this story as fast as you like, as I do have a life outside of writing. As always, leave your comments and suggestions with your reviews. Thank you and, please, enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros. Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. 

What Dreams may come

Chapter 1

Wish on a falling star

  Ginny Weasley sat near the window in her room at the Burrow, looking up at the vast expanse of the night sky, filled with stars that shone like jewels. It was near midnight, but she simply couldn't get to sleep. The summer holidays were nearly over, and there still wasn't any news on Harry Potter. He wasn't allowed to visit the Burrow this year, nor was he allowed to have any contact with the wizardly world. Mr. Weasley had tried pleading with Headmaster Dumbledore, but it was in vain.

  "Harry will be safer with the Dursley," the Headmaster had said, and there with nothing anyone could do to change his mind.

  Ginny sighed. No matter how hard she tried, she simply couldn't see just how living with the Dursley could protect Harry. Even protection charms could only go so far. If You-Know-Who goes after Harry, Ginny seriously doubt that protection charms would even slow him down. After all, wasn't it said that You-Know-Who was the strongest Dark wizard in the world. And the Muggles, what help would they be when the Dark Lord appeared in front of them. They would most likely wet their pants and run. Or be killed.

  Ginny sighed again, and rested her head on the window still. The worst thing was that there wasn't even anyone that she could talk to. Ron had gone to Hermione's house for the holidays, claiming that he wanted to see what a muggle household is like. Ginny had a few suspicion about that. After that blazing row that he had with Hermione after the Yule ball, almost the whole of Gryffindor knew that _something_ was up between the two of them. Fred and George were out too. The two of them had taken up summer jobs at Zonko's Joke Shop, saying something about getting some experience in running a joke shop. Percy wasn't available too. He might as well just stay in his office, with the amount of time he spent in there. He even took his meals in office, returning home only to sleep. Both Charlie and Bill had returned to their respective jobs, so they were out too. And her parents were so busy with whatever Dumbledore asked them to do that she didn't want to bother them with her problems as well.

  Ginny sighed yet again. Thinking about it always made her sad, but there really wasn't much else to do. She was so bored, she finished all her homework during the first week of the holidays, even the subject that she hated the most, potions. Ginny had hoped that Harry would come for the summer. At least she would have some company. Even if the company was the boy that she liked, meaning that she would most likely embarrass herself, it would still be better than being alone. It might get Harry to see her as more than just Ron's little sister. It might even be possible to become friends with Harry. She had been at Hogwarts for almost 3 years now, and she couldn't really remember anytime she ever had a serious conversation with Harry, nor of them going to Hogsmeade, or even of them doing anything together. She had wanted to join his circle of friends for some time now, but oftentimes she was just too shy to do anything about it at all. 

  Ginny sighed for the fourth time. As bad as it was for her, it must have been ten times worse for Harry. Just thinking about You-Know-Who returning was bad enough; to actually see it happen was beyond imagining. And Harry had seen it happen. Even though Ginny had no idea what was it that Harry saw, her imagination was more than enough. She had seen the state Harry was in when he suddenly appeared again in the middle of the maze that was the third task of the Triwizard Tournament; blood and mud caking his robes and face, holding on to Cedric's body and the Triwizard Cup for dear life, even if it was from the stands. And to think that he could not have any contact with the wizardly world at all. No one to talk to. No one to share what he had seen. Ginny wondered how in the world did he manage to cope with it. 

  Out of the corner of her eyes, a sudden flicker of brightness caught her attention. Turning her head, she saw a shooting star, blazing its way across the sky on its lonely journey. As Ginny looked at the star, a tiny voice, so soft that had Ginny not held her breath, she would not have heard it, whispered into her ear…

  '_Wish on a falling star…_'

  But Ginny heard. And she wished. And as she did so, the lone traveling star busted into dust, burning brightly for a moment, and was gone, disappearing as if it never appeared in the first place. And when she fell asleep, leaning against the window still, she recalled her wish, hearing it echo inside her mind…

  '_I wish to be able to help Harry in some way…_'

~~~~~~~~~~

  Harry Potter sat on the roof of number four, Privet Drive, his Firebolt floating beside him, his invisibility cloak wrapped around him and the broom, a feeling of restlessness growing within him, so many things that he kept inside him that he was almost ready to explode. 

For almost the whole of the summer holidays, Harry had been coped up in the house and allowed outside only to do his gardening duty. But even that was taken away from him when last week Aunt Marge had came to stay for the remainder of the summer holidays. Uncle Vernon, not wanting a repeat of Harry's third year, when he had blown up Aunt Marge to a huge balloon, had reinstalled the bars in his window and locked him up for most of the day, claiming that it was what his school, St Brutus's Secure Center for Incurably Criminal Boys had ordered for the summer. Aunt Marge, having had no memory of being blown up due to having her memory modified by the Accidental Magic Reversal Department, and who was always ready to believe in the worst in Harry, had believed the story. It had taken him this long just to figure out how to use the penknife that Sirius gave him to pick the lock to his room and escape his room for a little while.

  Harry looked up at the night sky, that restless feeling continuing to grow even larger still inside him, making him want to howl at the moon like a werewolf. However, he did not wish to wake the Dursleys up and have them catch him outside of his room where he was suppose to be locked up. Harry still wanted to savor his limited freedom before reentering the cell his room had become.

  Harry suddenly wondered what his friends would be doing now. For the first time since he started school at Hogwarts, he did not receive any presents for his birthday this year. Even though he had received the owl that Dumbledore sent him telling him not to have any contact with the wizardly world, in case Voldemort managed to find him through his mails, it was hard not to believe that all his friends had abandon him. He wondered if any of them were thinking of him now? 

_  'I want to yell. I want to scream. I want to let all that weights me down out. I want to cry but the tears would not come. My eyes remain dry. Have I spent so much time just existing that I forgot how to live? This whole summer I had just existed. I neither think nor feel; I just did what Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon wanted, eat and sleep. It was easier that way, not having to think of the return of Voldemort or to feel the guilt of causing Cedric's death. And yet… the loneliness of just existing… it's too much for me…'_

  A spark of light caught his eyes, a shooting star streaked across the sky just in front of him. A voice, light as the wind, whispered into his ears…

  '_Wish on a falling star…_'

  And Harry heard, and wished, and could finally allow himself to cry, the dams of his tears opening up, to wash away the grief and pain… at least for a little while. 

  When he returned to his room and fell asleep, he recalled the wish that he wished…

  '_I wish that I wouldn't feel lonely any more…_'


	2. Tel’anran’rhiod

_A/N_: This is not an easy chapter to write. Hope I didn't mess it up. 

  Thanks to all 6 of you people who reviewed this story. I'm glad to see that someone is reading it, and that I have not written it in vain. Please give your comments and suggestions. Thank you.

**Disclaimer:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros. Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. The name Tel'anran'rhiod belong to Robert Jorden and the 'Wheel of Time'

What Dreams may come

Chapter 2

Tel'anran'rhiod

  Ginny looked around her. One minute she was in bed, falling asleep, the next, she found herself here. Wherever 'here' is. All she could see was mist, curling and twisting round her. It was very bright, but Ginny could not find the source of the light. She looked down, and got a shock. She was standing, not on the ground, but on mist, endlessly moving about but remaining firm enough to stand on nonetheless. She lifted her eyes, but nothing changed. Mist was all she could see, forming different shapes that changed by the minute. Never ceasing, ever moving, the mist flowed out as far as the eye could see, an immensely varied, constantly shifting landscape of mist…

  "Amazing, isn't it?" a strangely familiar voice spoke up to Ginny's right. Surprised, Ginny turned to see who had spoken, loosing her balance as she did. A tinkering laugh reached her ears and a hand entered her vision.

  "Do be careful. A fall here would still hurt you, you know." The figure spoke again. Speechless, Ginny could only stare at the figure offering her hand, so great was her surprise. A tall girl stood there, dressed only in a simple blue garment that fell to her feet and left her arms bare. A circle of silver surrounded her head, and her silver hair hung down her back, reaching all the way to her knees. A soft glow surrounded the girl, blurring the contours of the girl, making her seems out of focus, like a picture badly taken. Even as Ginny looked on her, a strange feeling came over her, that this was a great lady, worthy of respect. 

  "Where is this place? And who are you?" Ginny asked, using the hand offered to pull herself up to her feet. She looked around her at the landscape of mist, taking in the view that changed even as she looked on. The girl took a few steps to the side and spread her arms out wide, like a speaker on stage that was about to begin speaking. 

  "This… is Tel'anran'rhiod, or, in the speech of your people, 'the world of dreams'."

  "The world of… dreams?" Ginny was shocked. Her mother had told her about Tel'anran'rhiod. It was suppose to be the place where you go to when you sleep. But she always thought it was nothing but a legend, told to children, like Santa Clause or the tooth fairy. Something not real, imaginary. And yet, here she was, standing in it.

  "Yes. The world of dreams. A world formed, not of water or air or earth, but of ideas, feelings, thoughts, and of course, dreams. A world without limit, without end, as long as there is someone left to dream on. A world where anything… is possible!" The girl's voice grew louder and louder as she spoke, ending almost in a shout. And when she said the last word, the landscape changed.

  The white mist begin to dissolve, swirling round and round to nothingness, leaving behind a dark emptiness, the soft velvety black of night, the emptiness of space, set all around with thousands of stars, all shining with a cold, fierce brilliance that only the muggle astronauts ever saw. Ginny was now suspended in that emptiness, standing on nothing, staring around at the magnificent view of deep space.

  "The place that I came from." The girl said, moving up to where Ginny stood, or would have, had there been a floor for her to stand on. The glow around the girl was more noticeable now, with the darker background. Ginny looked at the glow surrounding her, heard the voice that sounded so very familiar, and something clicked inside her head. It was impossible, absurd. And yet, it seems to make sense. 

  "You sound like that voice I heard when I saw the shooting star earlier…" Ginny's voice trailed off when she saw the girl nod her head.

  "That was me." The girl said simply.

  "What?! But…but I thought that stars were suppose to be balls of flaming gas or something, not a…a person!" Ginny cried, surprise sharpening her voice.

  "That is only what I am made of, not what I am. Did I not say that this is a place where anything is possible? Here I can show my true self. Not that of a flaming ball, but what you see now. My soul, if you will." The girl answered.

  Ginny could not make any reply. She just stood there staring at the girl. Is this for real? I am actually standing in the legendary Tel'anran'rhiod talking with a shooting star! Wow!! This was so unbelievable. Something suddenly crossed her mind.

  "Do you have a name or something? I mean, I can't go around calling 'hey you' when I want to talk to you, right?" Ginny asked.

  "Stars have no real use for names. However, you can call me Star. It is rather appropriate, do you not think so?" The girl said smiling. 

  "Yeah, I guess so…Ok then. Star it is. Ah, what are we doing here anyway, Star?" Ginny asked, looking around at the field of stars shining in the background.

  "Did you not wish to help a certain Harry Potter?" Star asked, waving her hands about, causing the starfield to waver and wane along the path of her wave. In its place, the mist begin to flow back in. Soon, the view of space had completely disappeared, leaving only the mist landscape. 

  "Wow! How did you do it?" Ginny asked, amazed.

  "Tel'anran'rhiod is controlled by thought. What you think is what you get." Star answered. "Take this for example." Star concentrated for a moment, and her blue garment begin to dissolve. In its place, golden robes appeared on her, so bright that Ginny had to shut her eyes to keep from going blind. When she opened them again, Star's blue garment had returned.

  "Cool!"

  "Come on." Star said. "We haven't got all night." Star began walking, the mist parted before her, forming a path under her feet.

  "Where are we going?" Ginny asked, hurrying up to Star on her misty path.

  "To find Harry Potter." Star answered, her pace never slacking. 

  They walked in silence for a while, Ginny lost in her thoughts. She really did not expect her wish to come true in such a fashion. Hack, she did not even expect her wish to be fulfilled at all. To think that a star would hear her wish. Ginny glanced at Star. She really did not look like a star, apart from her glow.

  "Star? Why did you want to help me? I mean, you must have gotten many wishes? Why did you choose mine?" Ginny asked.

  Star sighed, her face looked sad for a moment before the smile returned.

  "Most people have outgrown wishing on falling star. They just point at me and say 'how nice, a shooting star.' Not many would even make a wish any more. Yours is easily the most interesting. Besides, that boy Harry also made a wish. Since I can take care of both wishes, why not?" Star answered.

  "Oh? Harry made a wish too? What did he wish for?" Ginny wanted to know. Maybe…

  "That is not for me to tell. You must ask him yourself, if you really want to know." Star answered. They fell silence again. 

  After a while, Ginny noticed that the mist seems to be darker than before. It seems to be moving more violently too, often sending out tendrils to bar their way. Star, however, just brush them away with a wave of her hand. 

  "Star, why is the mist acting like that?" Ginny asked.

  "Tel'anran'rhiod is a reflection of the thoughts of people. The darker the mist, the more negative the feeling." Star answered.

  "And Harry is in this mess?" Ginny exclaimed

  "Yes. He felt guilty for the death of Cedric and the resurrection of the Dark Lord." Seeing Ginny's surprised look, Star continued. "You didn't think I knew all that? It gets boring after some time up in space, you know. Sometimes, we stars like to look down to earth to see what's going on. Your planet is such an interesting place. The Centaurs also tell us many things, you know."

  "You talk to Centaurs?" 

  "Yes. How else do you think they get their information from?" Star replied with a smile.

  "Can you defeat You-Know-Who?" Ginny asked.

  "Thanks for the vote of confident, but no. My powers are limited to Tel'anran'rhiod, and only to showing the way. I can do nothing to Voldemort from here. Besides, Voldemort is your problem. I can't just come in like this. The powers to be will not be happy. Don't worry though. I don't think Voldemort will last much longer."  As Star was speaking, she was walking slower and slower, finally stopping in front of a huge dome of mist

  "What's wrong?" Ginny asked, a little worry now that they were in what seems to be the thickest part of the dark mist.

  "Harry is there." Star said, pointing to the dome just ahead of them. 

  "What can we do?" Ginny asked. 

  "Not we. You. You are the one who would help Harry. I can't do any more. Harry is too deeply caught in his nightmare. The best I can do is to send you into his nightmare and pray that you can bring him out." Star replied. 

  "But how…?"Ginny was starting to get nervous, but also a little excited. Now is a chance for her to help Harry. 

  Star lifted up her hands, and as she did, the black dome started to spin. She pressed her hands into the dome, and a rectangular opening appeared between her hands. 

  "Go through here. Harry is on the other side. Find him and bring him out of his nightmare. Show him that he is not alone, that there are people who care for him and love him. But beware that in there, Harry controls the dream. Do not get caught up in it."

  Ginny nodded, her face growing determined. Here is the chance that she can help Harry. Ever since Harry rescued her from the Chambers of Secrets, she had been on the lookout for a chance to help Harry back. Now her chance had arrived. She stepped under Star's arms, took a deep breath, and prepared to jump in. 

  "Hurry up. I can't hold it much longer." Star said, her voice showing the strain of holding the doorway open. Ginny nodded

  "Thanks Star," she said. With that, she jumped into the doorway and disappeared from view.


	3. Memories

**A/N: **For some reason, this story was way harder to write for than 'Times of changes'. But don't worry. I will do my best to finish this fic. I hope that you will like the result. Thanks to all who had reviewed this story. You give me the determination to see this story to its end. Thank you all! As always, comments and suggestions will be appreciated.  

**Disclaimer:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros. Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. 

What Dreams may come

Chapter 3

Memories

  Ginny landed on the ground. Behind her, the doorway disappeared as Star removed her hands from the dome. Not Ginny was truly on her own. She looked around her, trying to get her bearings. She was in some sort of round room, with five doorways spread evenly all around the room. For some reason, even though Ginny came in though the side, and had not moved even one step, she now found herself in the middle of the room, directly facing one of the doors, a sign above the room saying   'Pre-Hogwarts'. It was the only one that was open. 

  "So, you want me to go there first, huh? Ok, so be it." Ginny said, before walking into the doorway. As she walked past the door, it started to move, closing off the doorway. The room was very dark, the only light coming from a silver screen set on the far end of the room. A small figure sat on the floor in front of it. As Ginny neared the figure, she saw the lightning-shaped scar on the forehead of the figure. This was Harry Potter, but not the Harry Potter that Ginny knew. This Harry couldn't be more than 10 years old. 

  "Harry? Harry, can you hear me." Ginny called out to the young Harry, but Harry either did not hear her, or he was ignoring her. Ginny was about to call him again when the screen suddenly flickered and grew brighter. Something was moving inside the screen, and as Ginny stared into the screen, she forgot all about Harry and her surrounding. The only thing she saw was the images on the screen… and she saw…she saw…

~~~~~~~~~~

  A face… A woman's face. Warm and cheerful, yet there was a hint of worry and weariness about her. Her beautiful face was framed with reddish-gold hair, long and thick. She was singing a lullaby, her voice soft and gentle. Her green eyes was looking into mine, filled with love and a peculiar kind of determination. A feeling of safety and peace was about me, here in the arms of this woman. _Mother…_

  Then her face moved towards one side, and other filled his vision. This new face was familiar, very familiar. A round face, toped with a shock of thick black hair, growing all over the place. His thick glasses sat on the bridge of his nose, warm brown eyes stared into me. _Father…_

  Then he heard Mother spoke. "James, I have a very bad feeling tonight." Her voice was shivering, and her arms tighten around me for a moment. Then she place me into my bed and tucked the blanket around me.

  "Don't worry, Lily. Remember that we are under the Fidelius Charm. And our Secret-Keeper is our old buddy Peter. It'll be alright." Father answered him, his voice soothing.

  "But that's what I'm worried about. Peter seems so distanced nowadays. He seemed to have become a stranger." Mother cried.

  "It'll be alright." Father said again. "I trust Peter with my life." There was a hint of doubt in his voice, however.

  "We should have let Sirius be the Secret-Keeper!" Mother cried again.

  "Look Lily, we've been through this already. Sirius is the one who wanted Peter to be the Secret-Keeper. Voldemort will be sure to go after Sirius, him being my best friend and all. With Peter as the Secret-Keeper, we will be safe. No one would suspect that we would use Peter. It would be the perfect bluff." Father's voice sounded a little tired.

  "You were against it too, when Sirius first told us about it." Mother said, a little calmer.

  "Yes. But what's done is done. No point digging it all up again, is there?" Father said.

  "But…" Mother was cut off by an explosion. High-pitched laughter reached my ears. The sound of a door banging open.

  "Voldemort. He's here. But how… the Fidelius Charm…PETER!!!" Father shouted suddenly. His angry face suddenly appeared before me. A feeling of being lifted up, blanket and all. I was pushed into Mother's arms. "Lily, take Harry and go! It's Him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off…" Father's face entered my view again as he kissed my forehead, and then disappeared. Sound of him stumbling from the room. A scream. Footsteps walking towards the room. Another bang. Mother's gasp of fear. Her arms tighten around me so much, I couldn't breath for a moment.

  "Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!" Mother screamed.

  "Stand aside, you silly girl!" An evil voice said.

  "Not Harry! Please no, take me, kill me instead…"

  "Stand aside now!"

  "Not Harry! Please… have mercy…!"

  "For the last time. Stand aside!"

  "No! Not Harry…Please…I'll do anything…!"

  "If that's the way you want it. _Avada Kedavra!_"

  A flash of green light, lighting up the room. Falling, and hitting the floor. Pain shot through me, but I did not cry. Somehow, I knew that I cannot, I will not show weakness to this evil man.

  "Well, what shall we do with you, my little one?" the evil man said, fingering his wand. "I could keep you, or I could kill you. What shall it be, Nagini?" A hiss of a snake. "Yes… Keeping him will be troublesome. Ok, I have decided. You, Harry Potter, shall die today. _Avada Kedavra!_" 

  Another flash of green light. A searing pain on my forehead, like a white-hot wire was pressed against my head. I could not bear the pain this time, letting out a cry of pain. However, another voice overrode mine. That evil man, he was screaming too. Then the whole house seems to blow up…

~~~~~~~~~~

  The screen finally returned to its first silver colour, releasing Ginny from the spell, leaving her gasping for breath. 

  "Oh Harry." Ginny whispered. 

  "So that's what happened." Star's voice came from behind Ginny.

  "Wha…what are you doing here? I thought you were waiting outside?" Ginny asked, surprised. She turned to face Star.

  "Oh, that?" Star gave a little laugh. "I was a little worried about you alone in his dreams, so I followed in." 

  "So now what do we do? And what is that?" Ginny asked. She turned to point to the young Harry, and got a shock. Young Harry had disappeared. 

  "What is what, Ginny?" Star asked, a little worried.

  "Harry was here just now. A young Harry. I don't think he was more than ten… now he's gone!" Ginny tried to explain to Star.

  "Hmm… I think I get it now, Ginny. What this dream is about." Star replied, a look of deep thought on her face.

  "What? What about this dream?" Ginny asked, puzzled.

  "Everyone's dream is different, the way they view their dreams. Some dream of the things they fear most, some of the worst time in their lives. Harry seems to dream his dream in turn, every memory from when he was a child to now…" Star answered.

  "So why can't he remember his parents?" Ginny asked. She had overheard Harry complaining that to Ron and Hermione once.

  "That was most probably because the memory of his parents were crowed out by the more recent memories. When he wakes up, he can only remember the part of his dream that was most recent." Star explained.

  "So how can I help him?" Ginny asked. 

  "You must continue to look for him in his dream. He should be in one of these rooms, viewing one of his memories." Star answered.

  "But the other doors are close, and this room seems to have finished." Ginny said.

  "If Harry isn't here now, he should be in another room. I think we should go and see." Star replied.

  "Alright than." Ginny said, walking out of the room, Star following behind. As they passed the doorway, it dissolved and closed, leaving no trace that a door was ever there. Strangely, when Ginny looked around the round room again, the remaining four doors were still evenly spread around it. One of the door was open, the sign above it saying 'First Year, Hogwarts.' This time.

  "So I go though this door this time, right?" Ginny asked Star.

  "I think so…" Star answered a little doubtfully. 

  "Ah well, let's go then." Ginny said, before strolling into the room.


	4. Mind-Blend

**A/N: **Sorry for this short chapter, but it couldn't be helped. A friend of mine had borrowed my copy of the first book, and without it I cannot continue. So the best I can do is to send you this first half of the fourth chapter and to tell you all that it may be quite some time before you see another chapter, because my friend is not the fastest of readers… Sorry…

**Disclaimer:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros. Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. 

What Dreams may come

Chapter 4

Mind-Blend

  As Ginny entered the room, the first thing that she noticed was that this room was completely different from the first room. It was well lighted with touches, set about the small round room. A long flight of stairs reached up into nothingness on the opposite side of the room. A huge mirror, girdled in gold, stood alone in the middle of the room on two clawed feet. An inscription was carved into the gold around the top edge: _Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi. _The Mirror of Erised.

Ginny stepped up to the mirror, expecting to see her own refection. Instead, Harry stood in the mirror, looking back at her, smiling in a way she seldom seen him smile. Not the worry-tainted smile that Harry wore these days, it was a smile full of joy and laughter, an open and honest smile. 

  '_Yes…to see Harry smile like that again. That's how I want him to be, joyful and free, not laid down with worry and grief…as I had last seen him to be, when he returned from the hospital wing…_

Her musing was cut short when she heard a sound from the stairs. She pulled her attention away from the mirror just in time to see a tall, thin man wearing the black Hogwarts robes and a huge turban on his head, swept his way down the stairs. A sweep of his hand caught Ginny at the side of her head, sending her rolling. He did not apologize or even gave any sign that he saw Ginny at all. He just stood in front of the mirror, motionless, as if caught in a full-body bind, except that he was standing up.

  Fuming, Ginny got up and walked towards the man, rolling up her sleeves as she went.

  "Hey! What's the big idea of knocking me down, then standing there like a statue?!" Ginny shouted, shaking her fist in front of face of the man. The man simply ignored Ginny, and continued to stare into the mirror, as if he was looking for something in it.

  "What's up with you, you stupid git? Apologize now!" Ginny's temper was rising as the man continued to ignore Ginny. Finally, unable to restrain herself, she reached up to grab hold of his robes, intending to pull his face down to her level, since he was so much taller than her. She got a shock, however, when her hand simply went right through the man, nothing resisting her hand at all, as if there was nothing there but air. Astonished, she tried again with the same lack of success.

  "Don't waste your time, Ginny. You cannot touch him." Star said from behind Her.

  "Why not?" Ginny demanded, still trying her best to at least touch the man.

  "Because, he is only a memory. You can't touch a memory." Star explained, an amused look on her face.

  "Isn't it unfair? I mean, he hit me! Can't I at least hit him back?" Ginny asked, finally giving up her futile task. She walked over to where Star was sitting and sat down beside Star.

  "He can hit you because your mind said he can." Star said, slipping into that tone of voice she used when she was explaining something.

  "Huh? What do you mean, 'my mind said he can'?" Ginny asked, perplexed.

  "When someone swing his arm at you in the real world, will it not hit you?" Star asked in return.

  "Yeah… What does that have to do with it?" Ginny replied, still not understanding.

  "It is the same here in Tel'anran'rhiod. When you see someone swing his arms at you, you expect to get hit, so you do. But the difference is that in Tel'anran'rhiod, what you see is but an image, a memory of someone else. In their world, you can't touch or interact with the things here at all. Anymore than you can hit feelings or touch thoughts in the physical term. That's why I asked you to be careful when you first came in here. If that was a sword that hit you, you will be cut. And if you die here, you die in the real world too."

  "So that means that I can only observe in here? Then how am I going to help Harry? I mean, I can't just grab him and run out of the dream, can I?" Ginny asked, a little unnerved by the fact that she could die here.

  "No… not in that way. However, it _is_ possible for you to synchronize your thought waves to match his. That way, you can reach him and talk to him." Star replied.

  "What do you mean, synchronize my thoughts?" Ginny asked, getting confused again.

  "The human brain produces a certain kind of wave pattern. Each person has a different brain wave. It is this brain wave that is present at Tel'anran'rhiod. It is also this brain wave that affects the things like dreams and such things. So, all you have to do is to match your brain wave with Harry's brain wave. This will allow you enter his dreams, to talk to him. It should be easier for you, since you already have a link to Harry." Star answered

  "What do you mean, a link?" Ginny asked. As far as she knew, she did not have any kind of link to Harry whatsoever. Not even friendship links. She was just Ron's little sister to Harry.

  "Did Harry not save you during your first year?" Star asked. "You should know that when a wizard saves another wizard's or witch's life, a bond is formed between them. It was this bond that helped you to connect to Harry's dream about his parents. "

  Oh yeah. She had forgotten all about it… the bond thing, not the saving. She could never forget Harry saving her in her first year in Hogwarts… How he looked when she woke up in his arms, covered in Basilisk blood, a sword in hand, that dammed diary in the other…

  "Hey, you still there?" Star's amused voice cut into Ginny's thoughts.

  "Huh? Oh… yeah. I'm still here…" Ginny said as she tried to shake herself from her moment in daydreaming.

  They sat there for a moment in silent.

  "So…how do I go about synchronizing my brain waves with Harry?" Ginny asked, suddenly all business.  

  "I really have no idea. It all depends on the two of you. But you will know it when you do connect your minds together." Star replied.

  A sudden sound on the stairs prevented Ginny from asking for more details. Harry stood there, on the top of the stairs, a shocked look on his face. 


	5. The Awakening of Harry Potter

**A/N:** Sorry for the long wait. I got tired of waiting for my friend to return the book, and you give such encouraging reviews, so I decided to make use of my memory to write this chapter. If there is any mistakes, please do not flame me for it. I do not have a photographic memory, you know. I just try to remember as much as possible. Also, this chapter is almost double the length of the other chapters, to make up for the short chapter 4. That said, please enjoy this chapter, and leave your comments and suggestions in the review box. Thanks also to those who had reviewed the other chapters, especially Gray Skinner, who had given many valuable suggestions. Thank you.

**Disclaimer:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros. Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. 

What Dreams may come

Chapter 5

The Awakening of Harry Potter

  "YOU?!!" Harry cried, surprise and shock written all over his face.

  "Me…" The man in the turban said, not even looking at Harry, he just continued to stare at the mirror. 

  "But… I thought… Snape…?" Harry sputtered, clearly too shocked to say anything resembling sense.

  "Yes… he does seem the type, does he? Compare to him, who would dream of po…poor, st…sta…stammering pro…professor Quirrell." The man in the turban said in an amused tone. Turning to face Harry, he gave Harry an evil smile.

  "But…but Snape tried to kill me…" Harry said, beginning to regain his senses.

  "No, no, no. _I_ tried to kill you. I would have succeed too, if not for Snape murmuring the counter-curse." Quirrell spat out angrily. Harry just stared at him, speechless with shock at this revelation. Turning his attention back to the Mirror, Quirrell began to examine the surface carefully.

  "Where is it?" Quirrell whispered to himself, completely ignoring Harry now. "Where is the Philosopher's Stone?" He walked around the Mirror, tapping it. "What is the secret of this Mirror? Do I have to break it open?" Returning to the front of the Mirror, Quirrell peered deeply into the face of it. "I see myself presenting the stone to my master, but how do I _get_ it?"

  Throughout all this, Ginny had looked, first at Harry, who seems to be only about eleven, and at Quirrell in amazement. Suddenly, she noticed a strange hissing sound that seems to come from all round the room. She was about to ask Star as to the source of that sound when it spoke.

  "Ussssse the boy…." That voice hissed. Ginny instantly recognized that voice. It was older, and sounded far more evil, but there can be no mistaking it. It was the voice of Tom Riddle, also known as Voldemort. 

  Quirrell turned towards Harry and pointed his finger at him. 

  "You, boy. Get over here!"

  Harry, instead of obeying, began to back up the stairs. Quirrell made a pulling motion, and dragged Harry, struggling, as if on an invisible rope, towards him. Once Harry reached him, Quirrell placed a vice-like hand on Harry's shoulders, effectively holding him in place in front of the Mirror.

  "Tell me, what do you see?" Quirrell ordered, his voice tight with suppressed excitement. He too was peering at the Mirror, and so did not see the pocket of Harry suddenly bugle out, as if something had been placed into it. Ginny, however, noticed, and wondered what it is.

  "Well, boy? Tell me now! What did you see inside?" Quirrell demanded, trying to look over Harry's head.

  "I… see myself holding the House Cup… I have won the House Cup for Gryffindor…" Harry said hesitantly. Quirrell, on hearing that, pushed Harry away in disgust. 

  "He isss lying…" Voldemort hissed, his voice echoing around the small chamber. 

  "Come back here, boy!" Quirrell made a grab for Harry, but Harry managed to stay out of reach.

  "Let me… ssspeak to him…" Voldemort hissed, his voice growing a little weaker.

  "But master, you are not strong enough." Quirrell protested.

  "I have… strength enough… for this…" Voldemort replied.

  Without another word, Quirrell turned his back towards the Mirror and began unwinding his turban. Yard after yard of yellow material fell at his feet, and when he finished, his head seems unusually small. Ginny, from her position just behind Harry, was able to see over Harry's head at the Mirror. What she saw reflected on the Mirror shocked her so much that she shrank away from that horrible image, burying her head in the shoulder of Star. Star patted Ginny's head with her free hand, the other used to hold Ginny to her.

  A head was reflected. A head impossibly aged, with wide red eyes, like two red-hot coals, set in that head, and no nose to speak of. Just two slits, to represent nostrils. This head was set at the back of Quirrell's own, the flash melting into each other so completely that no separation could be seen between the two head.

  "You ssssee me now, mere vapor and spirit. Even lesssser than a ghost. All thanksss to you…" Voldemort began, his burning eyes boring into Harry's own terrified gaze, through the reflection of the Mirror. "But let us ceassse this meaninglessssss pattering. Why don't you hand over the Philosopher'sss Sssstone in your pocket, then I kill you, and we'll call it quitsss for you destroying my body…" Voldemort said in the calmest possible voice, as if he expects no resistances whatsoever. 

  Ginny pulled away from Star to stare incredulously at the reflection of Voldemort's face. "What sort of bargain this that?!!" She demanded of Star. Star merely smiled, shrugged her shoulder, and gestured for Ginny to continue watching.

  Harry had taken out what Ginny assumed to be the Philosopher's Stone, a blood-red hunk of stone, from his pocket. On seeing it, Voldemort could not contain his look of greed and gee. Harry looked at the Stone in his hand for a long moment, as if contemplating Voldemort's 'offer'. Finally, Harry slipped the Stone back into his pocket, took a deep breath, and said one word.

  "No"

  Voldemort seems shocked at his 'offer' being refused.

  "No?" He said quietly. "You dare sssay 'No' to Lord Voldemort?"  His eyes were bugling out dangerously, and his voice was filled with malice. Harry swallowed, (Ginny could see his throat move), but nodded.

  "No matter." Voldemort's face suddenly smiled an evil smile. "I will take it off your corpse then! Quirrell! Get him!!" 

  At Voldemort's order, Quirrell leaped forward, grabbing hold of Harry by the neck. Ginny, on seeing that Harry was in danger, momentarily forgot that what she was seeing wasn't real, but a memory. She rushed forward from where she was seating and tried to jump on Quirrell's back, 'tried' being the keyword. Quirrell being only a memory, Ginny simply sailed right through him and landed on the ground face first on the other side of the struggling pair. Star ran up to where Ginny lay in a heap and helped her up.

  "Are you ok?" Star asked, a little worried.

  "Yeah, sure. I'm fine." Ginny dusted herself off before continuing. "Sorry about that just now. I just seemed to lost my head."

  "It's ok. These things happen." Star replied with a little smile. "I don't think you need to worry though." Star pointed towards the two fighting to make her point.

  As Ginny looked over, Qiurrell's hands started to smoke. He gave a great yell and released Harry in a hurry.

  "You fool! Why did you let go?" Voldemort screamed.

  "It hurts, master!" Quirrell sobbed, nearly crying from the burns on his hands, which were all red and swollen.

  Harry looked at Quirrell's pain-fill face, then at his hands. Coming rather quickly to the conclusion that his touch was what caused Quirrell such torture, Harry spring forward and pressed his hands against  Quirrell's face. A fresh round of howling escaped Quirrell's mouth.

  On the place where Harry had his hands pressed, something happened. Slowly, the flash on Quirrell's face turned to stone. As soon as it is formed, however, it began to crumple. Harry leaped back to avoid the falling pieces of Quirrell, but it was too late for Quirrell. With increasing speed, the flaks of stones fall off Quirrell, disappearing when it touches the floor. A shining light blazed forth from within Quirrell, lighting up the room far more than the touches did.

  Harry turned around when the last of Quirrell hit the floor, and bend to pick up the Philosopher's Stone, which had dropped out when he and Quirrell were struggling. As Harry turned the Stone in his hands, he heard a sound as if a wind had risen in that small chamber. Ginny, standing just beyond the remains of Quirrell, gave a gasp as she saw a gray-colored spirit rise from the remains and streaked round the room. As Harry turned around, the spirit of Voldemort zoomed towards the Stone and Harry, passing through Harry as if there is nothing there, before disappearing up the stairs. Harry's face turned pale, and he wavered on his feet before collapsing, the Stone falling from his grasp onto the floor.

  "Harry!" Ginny cried, running towards him. She fell to her knees besides him and tried to hold Harry, but her hands keep going through him. A tear of frustration appeared in her eyes as her attempt to hold Harry's limp body grew more and more frantic. Star walked over and place a hand of comfort on Ginny, but Ginny paid no heed to her. The tear ran down Ginny's cheek, gathering at her chin, seemingly catching every bit of light inside the room. It fell off Ginny's chin, a bright diamond hanging mid-air for a moment, before falling. Ginny had a moment to notice that her tear had landed on Harry's body instead of through Harry on the floor, and that at that moment, her hands actually brushed against Harry, before a flash of light suddenly busted forth from the tear, so bright Ginny had to shield her eyes. 

  When the light finally died down enough for Ginny to lower her arm, she found that they were back in the round room, three doors this time arranged equally around it. 

  "Ugh… Wha…what happened?" Harry stirred, murmuring to himself. During that one instant of brightness, Harry had apparently grown up, going from an eleven year old in the chamber to his true age of fifteen. He opened his eyes, blinked a couple of times before his eyes focus enough to make out the burred form above him. When he could see, however, it was to behold Ginny's worried face.

  "Are you alright, Harry?" Ginny asked, concern written all over her voice and printed on her face. She helped Harry up to a sitting position.

  "Congratulations." Star's voice floated from behind Ginny, a moment before Star herself stepped into view. "You have successfully synchronized your though waves together."

  "Huh? Who are you? What are you talking about? And why is Ginny here? For that matter, what am I doing here? And while you are at it, you might as well tell me where this place is as well." Harry demanded.

  "Calm down, Harry Potter." Star replied. "As to your questions, this place is Tel'anran'rhiod, the legendary land of dreams. I am called Star at this particular time and place, and Ginny is here because of a wish she made, as well as a wish _you_ made.

  "Oh, that's right. Did you wish on a shooting star earlier? 'Course Star here is that shooting star." Ginny interrupted, waving a hand towards Star.

  "Huh? Land of dreams? Shooting stars? Wishes? What's going on?" Harry asked, confused. "Wait, don't tell me," He said quickly, seeing Ginny's mouth beginning to move. "I am dreaming, right. And if I pinch myself, it wouldn't hurt, right?" Before anyone could stop him, Harry's hand had already gathered a small knob of flash on his legs and twisted it. Harry blinked another couple more times before giving one big yell of pain. Seeing that, Both Ginny and Star could not resist a laugh.

  "Hey! I thought you said this is a dream, so why does pinching still hurts?" Harry asked, rubbing the sore portion. 

  "I did not say this is a dream, Harry. I said that this is the _land_ of dreams. Here, it is the same as the real world outside. If you get hurt here, you get the injury on your body in the real world too." Star explained.

  "Oh…" Harry tries his best to understand this, but Ginny, seeing his confused look, said:

  "You don't need to understand, Harry. Just treat this place as if you are really here, that would be enough."

  "Ok… " Harry decides to accept this for the time being. "So, you are that shooting star I saw earlier tonight."

  "Yes…" Star replied.

  "No wonder I found your voice so familiar. You are the one who told me to make a wish, right." 

  "That's right."

  "And Ginny is here because of a wish she made?"

  "Right again." 

  "What could she wish that would send her here, in my dreams?"

  "That, you would best ask her yourself." Star replied.

  Harry turned to Ginny, who had already turned bright red at the mention of her wish. "Well? What did you wish that would send you to my dreams?"

  "Well…ahhh… that's… ahhh… I wished… I wished to be able to help you!" Ginny said this whole sentences in a hurry. Somehow, Harry had no problem understanding her.

  "So you wish to help me?" Harry asked, his eyes softening sightly.

  Ginny, still blushing like crazy, decided to take the plunge.

  "Well…it's because you seemed so sad, so lonely, last term, when we returned from Hogwarts. I just want to help you, you know, take away a little of your worry and pain…"

  "I see…" Harry was a little awed at the extent of Ginny's wish, not for Herself, but for him. "But why would you want to waste a wish on me?" 

  "It's not a wasted wish, Harry. I really like you, you know." Ginny said quietly.

  "Ginny…"

  "I wanted to be your friend, you know. But you were always with Hermione and Ron that I feel out of place when I want to talk to you. And the crush I had on you at that time didn't help matters too." Ginny had no idea why is it she found it easy to confess her feels here. Perhaps it's because here in the dream world, she had Harry's complete and total attention. Perhaps it's because here, there is no one to hear her pour her heart out. No matter what, Ginny discovered that she had lost her customary shyness around Harry and that she can tell him all that she had longed to tell him since the last time she saw him in the flash, at King's Cross.

  "So now you don't have a crush on me anymore?" Harry asked, a little disappointed. While it was annoying sometimes, it was rather flattering to have someone had a crush on you. Besides, Ginny was rather attractive, in her own way. He had never really taken notice of her before, being occupied with studies and other events like the Triwizard Tournament.

  "I don't know… I don't think so." Ginny said honestly. "I mean, it's the first time I had a crush on anyone. But since I can talk to you now without blushing or embarrassing myself, it should show that I had gotten over the crush, don't you think?"

  "I wouldn't know. I had only one crush that I know of… You know Cho Chang?" Harry asked.

  "Fifth year Ravenclaw? I think so. Isn't she the girlfriend of Cedric?"

  A nod.

  "You mean, you had a crush on someone else's girlfriend?" Ginny was surprised at this revelation.

  Another nod. "But I didn't know that when I asked her for the Yule ball."

  "Surprise, surprise. Harry Potter likes Cho Chang." Ginny sang out, glad for a chance to tease Harry.

  "Stop that." Harry said, laughing. It felt good to laugh again, after so long. Ginny continued to sing it another few times before she obligingly stopped. "When I saw her at the farewell feast, somehow I don't think I can ask her out anymore."

  "Why's that?" Ginny asked, curious.

  "She's obviously still grieving over Cedric's death. It'll feel weird if I ask her out so soon…" Harry trailed to a stop, still feeling responsible for the death of Cedric.

  "Can you tell me how he died?" Ginny, feeling the change in the atmosphere around, asked, in hope of being able to help Harry heal from this wound. "It might help, you know."

  "I… I guess so…" Harry answered, wanting the comfort that was available when he tell it to Ginny, yet feeling that he shouldn't tell, as it is his punishment to carry this guilt alone.

  "You can do better than that, you know." Star said from behind them, having kept silence all along, in respect of their conversation. 

  "Oh? How?" Ginny asked. 

  "Well, this _is_ Harry's dream after all. He can show it to you, if he so chooses." Star explained.

  "Is that so? Then let's go. I'll show you." Harry answered. He remembered that feeling of release, of cleansing when he had told Dumbledore what happened. All summer he didn't have a chance to talk to any witch or wizard, and it had stored inside him for so long that he would be glad to tell what happened to him to anyone who would understand. Besides, Ginny was the first to ask him to tell it, when he was ready to tell. He had not told Hermione and Ron because that time the wound was still too fresh, he wasn't ready to speak of the horrors that he had seen. Now, he is ready.

  Ginny, noticing that Harry's hands were shaking, asked: "Are you sure you want to show it." After all, Harry had already lived through it once, and visited it many more times in nightmares. To ask him to show her again seems a little selfish.

  "Yes. I'm sure." Harry got up to his feet and extended a hand to Ginny to help her up. Facing one of the doors marked 'fourth year, Hogwarts' Harry strolled forward, stopping only to open the door. When it was open, Harry gave one final warning.

  "It will not be pretty. Are you sure you want to see it." 

  Ginny nodded. "If you are willing to show it, I'm willing to see it. To help you heal this wound."

  "Alright then. It's through this door." 

  With that, the three of them stepped into the door together…


	6. The start of the rest of your life

**A/N: **At last, the end of this story. I hope you will be happy with the ending. I discovered something funny about this fic. I wrote almost double the length, but got fewer reviews. It seems that the more chapters I write, the lesser the review I get, but what I do get more than make up for the lack in numbers. 

To Mark JGC, thanks for the high complement. I hope you wouldn't find this chapter too disappointing. To Griff Girl, you should like this chapter. To the other two that reviewed, Hermione Weasley and Tinabedina, thanks. 

Please, enjoy this story. Comments and suggestions are welcome at the review box.

**Disclaimer:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros. Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. The name Tel'anran'rhiod belong to Robert Jorden and the 'Wheel of Time'

What Dreams may come

Chapter 6

The start of the rest of your life

  For a long moment Ginny could not see anything. The door had closed as soon as she stepped through, leaving them all in darkness. 

  "Harry? Star? Anyone?" Ginny called out, afraid that they had somehow left her behind. She took a few steps forward, and nearly jumped when she felt a hand suddenly resting on her shoulder.

  "Gee, Ginny. You have to relax a little more." The warm voice of Harry came floating from over her shoulder to her ears. "You are really tense, you know that?"

  "Then don't scare me like that!" Ginny snapped, though inwardly she was relived that it was Harry and not… "You know that since the Chambers of Secret…" She trailed off when she realized that Harry had not removed his hand from her shoulder.

  "I know, and I'm sorry." Harry said, completely misunderstanding the cause of Ginny's pause. "But it's not me that's making things this dark."

  "Oh?" Ginny replied a little absently, her attention taken up by Harry's hand on her shoulders. _So warm…_

  "It's Star. She said something about me still resisting the dream, and took off to drag the nightmare out of my subconscious." Harry explained.

  "Oh! Are you sure you want to show it…?" Ginny asked, trying to shake off her bemusement enough to pay attention to what Harry was saying.

  Harry sighed. "Yes, of course. You were right, back there, you know." 

  "About what?" Ginny asked, a little confused at the sudden change in topic

  "That keeping it in will do me harm." Harry replied, smiling. Though Ginny could not see his face, she could hear the smile in his voice nonetheless.

  "Really?" Ginny said, running through the conversation they had just now. "I don't seems to remember saying anything about it."

  "Not with words, certainly." Harry replied, still smiling. "But your meaning is clear, when you asked me to show you my nightmares."

  "Oh…" In truth, Ginny had wanted to say that to him, but she just couldn't find the words to express it. She was glad that Harry had caught her meaning, though.

  "And thanks too." Harry continued, now in a quieter tone, almost a whisper. "For making me laugh. I needed that…"

  "You…you're wel…welcome." Ginny stammered, surprised that Harry would thank her for something as simple as that.

  They stood there in silence for a few more moments, Ginny thinking about the conversation she had with Harry. She still can't believe she managed to talk to Harry without once blushing or embarrassing herself. It had got to be some sort of record. Then she thought of something.

  "Harry?" Ginny spoke, breaking the silence.

  "Yes?" Harry's voice seems to be very, _very _close to her ears, which had the effect of making her heart beat faster.

  "Were you surprised to find yourself here in Tel'anran'rhiod?" Ginny asked, a little breathless, due to the distance between her head and his, which had diminished so much that Ginny could feel Harry's breath, warm like a spring breeze, on her neck. One advantage of a dreamland, Ginny noted absently, is that it is impossible to have bad breath.

  "Not really…" 

  "Oh? Why is that so?" 

  Harry laughed, a quiet little laugh that had just a little hint of bitterness in it. 

  "I am used to having unusual things happening to me, Ginny. After four years of it, nothing really surprises me anymore. In fact, I would not be surprise if Voldemort were to pop up here somewhere. I mean, he's been after me for years…"

  "Oh, Harry…" Ginny place her hands over his, attempting to comfort him. 

   Then, without any warning whatsoever, Star appeared. Ginny could just see her by the light of her glow, though the glow lit nothing else up. She seems to be standing in a black hole or something, the darkness sucking up all the light till only the glow surrounding Star could be seen.

  "Is it ready than?" Harry asked, straightening and finally removing his hand from Ginny and placing them inside his pocket, all trace of bitterness gone. Harry was now all business.

  "Yes. It wasn't particularly hard. Nightmares seldom are. They always seem to be ready to come, though yours is perhaps the most eager that I've seen." Star answered.

  "Then let us be off. Before I change my mind." Harry said, grinning a little. 

  Ginny could only nod her head, her shoulders already missing Harry's touch. _I guess that means that I'm still not over him yet… I just became better at hiding it. _She had suspected as much, but had never really thought of it before.

  "Alright, then." Star nodded, and Ginny had the strangest sensation of falling, yet Star and Harry remained stationary. To see them standing there like that, yet feeling like she was about to drop down from them was a weird experience, to say the least.

  Then there was light, a brief flash of light, piercing Ginny's eyes for a moment. When she managed to open her eyes, Her surroundings had changed yet again. Now she was standing in what appeared to be a small graveyard, a church just visible in the gloom. It was night, and what little light there is made the place seems eerie. Ginny shivered a little in the cool night breeze. For a nightmare, this felt surprisingly real.

  A hand touched her on the arm, and for the second time, Ginny jumped. She turned around to see Harry smiling down at her. A slightly strained smile, true, but a smile nonetheless.

  "Sorry." He said, "but we're about to arrive." He nodded to the right of them.

  Ginny looked over to where Harry was pointing at, just in time to see the air quiver, a couple of tombstones away, like the movement of heated air above baked paved roads on a hot day. It seems to rush into itself, and suddenly Harry was there, along with Cedric, both of them holding on to the Triwizard Cup. She saw Cedric stand, and offer a hand to Harry, who took it and pulled himself to his feet. He seems to have injured his legs somehow, probably during the third task. Now they were talking, but they're too far away for Ginny to hear what they were saying.

  Ginny turned to see Harry behind her, staring at the scene with pain in his eyes. She turned back to see that both Harry and Cedric had pulled out their wands, and was staring at something beyond her.

  "This is _weird_!!" Ginny exclaimed, looking back and forth at the two Harrys. 

  "What is?" Star asked, stepping up to Ginny's side.

  "Seeing two Harrys like that." Ginny replied, waving her hand towards the said Harrys.

  Star was about to reply to that, when Ginny heard a cry of pain from Dream Harry. She turned towards the scene to see that Dream Harry had collapsed, rolling about in pain. True Harry squeezed his eyes up tight. He knew what was coming.

  "_Kill the spare."_

  Ginny spin around; the voice was coming from behind her. She turned just in time to see a cloaked and hooded person aiming his wand and screeching "_Avada Kedavra"_ She instinctively dodged that green jet of light, turning at the same time to see the jet of green light hit Cedric, killing him at once. Dimly, from somewhere behind her, she could hear True Harry moaning. Even though he wasn't caught up in the nightmare, but viewing it from outside, it still hurts to hear the dreaded sound of Cedric's body hitting the ground.

  The person who had used that deadly curse walked over to a marble tombstone that stood in the center of the graveyard and place a bundle that Ginny did not notice down. He walked over to the Dream Harry, still on the ground, staring blankly at Cedric's body. He dragged Dream Harry to his feet and to the tombstone. Ginny had one moment to read the name on the tombstone by wandlight before Harry was slammed onto it and chained in place. But that one moment is quite enough for her to recognize that name. The name that she feared above all else. The name that she still had nightmares of sometimes…

  TOM RIDDLE

  "Hey, you alright?" Harry was beside her, arms around her shoulders, shaking her gently. At some time between seeing the name on the tombstone, and True Harry shaking her, Ginny had fell to the ground sitting from shock. 

  "I'm fine, Harry. Stop shaking me." Ginny replied, coming back to her senses.

  "Oh. Ok."

  They sat there on the ground watching the cloaked man cut off his own hand into a huge stone cauldron that he had produced from somewhere, steam pouring out in a flood, sparks flying about in a fiery display of fireworks. Now that Ginny could remember that this was just a memory, not real, it was almost like watching a movie, with an extremely good surround sound system.

  "Harry? Who is that person?" Ginny asked, pointing to the person cradling his hand in pain.

  "That's Wormtail." Harry said shortly, with such venom in his voice that Ginny was a little shocked. She had never heard Harry use that particular tone before.

  "Who's Wormtail?" Ginny asked, as Wormtail walked over to where Dream Harry was chained and nicked him in the arm, drawing a little blood from him.

  "One of my father's best friends when he was in Hogwarts, and his betrayer." Harry answered, staring at Wormtail with narrowed eyes. Wormtail poured Dream Harry's blood into the cauldron, changing the light that was shining from the cauldron from red to white. 

  "What? I thought that was Sirius Black?" Ginny asked, confused. She could remember her second year, and the scare during that time, when the whole of Hogwarts was literally paralyzed with fear of Black coming to kill Harry. Coming from a wizarding family, naturally she knew the official story about Black betraying the Potters. 

  "Wha… Oh." Harry seems to realize that he was talking to Ginny. "No. Sirius was innocence." Wormtail had collapsed at the foot of the cauldron.

  "What?" Now Ginny was more confused than before. Harry, seeing the confusion on her face, opened his mouth to explain farther, but was interrupted when the cauldron suddenly began to steam, a thick white steam that utterly concealed everything inside the cloud. When the cloud cleared, a man could be seen standing inside the cauldron. Wormtail hurried to his feet at some command from the tall man and pulled a black robe over him.

  Just as Harry had said, Voldemort had appeared in the nightmare.

  Ginny took just one look, and promptly turned away from the sight of Voldemort, all thoughts of Black and the mystery forgotten. Memory or not, her fear of Voldemort was too deeply ingrained in her for her to be able to look at him. She glanced at Harry, staring at his old enemy with fists so tight with tension that the nails had bitten into the flash and blood dripped out. Moving over to his side, Ginny place a comforting arm over his shoulders, and was shocked when Harry unconsciously slipped his arm around her wrist and pulled her close to him, as if seeking relive from remembered pain, gripping so hard that Ginny had to bite her lips to keep from crying out. She looked up at his face, set in an expression of both fear and hate, looking far older than his fifteen years of age.

  Turning to Voldemort again, she found that she could look properly now, feeling safe in Harry's arms, even if he was squeezing her so hard she could hardly breath. Voldemort was pacing up and down in front of Dream Harry, seemingly waiting for something, stopping to hiss something to Dream Harry, before resuming his pacing. Suddenly, the area around Voldemort and Dream Harry was hidden as cloaked and masked wizards apparated all around them. The Death Eaters had arrived.

  "His true family…" Harry murmured, remembering what Voldemort said at that time.

  "What?" Ginny tilted her head up to look into Harry's eyes, a far-away gaze in it, as he relived the scene in front of him in his mind. At the sound of Ginny's voice, however, his eyes snapped back into focus and he glance down, surprised that Ginny's voice sounded so close. When he saw just how close they were, he gave a little 'yep' of surprise and removed his hands from Ginny. Attempting to move away, however, proved to be futile as Ginny hung on to him, clasping both hands around him.

  "Ginny?" Harry asked, a little unnerved at the way she was clinging on to him. "Are you alright?" He tried to pries her hands from him, but that only made Ginny tighten her grip.

  "Please… I somehow feel safer in your arms." Ginny said, her voice, muffed in Harry's clothes, sounded like she was about to cry. On hearing that, Harry stopped, his eyes became more gentle as he felt Ginny shivered, understanding the cause of it.

  "Alright, I understand." Harry shifted his body, so that Ginny was now in front of him, leaning on his chest, in a sideways position, as if Harry was an armchair for Ginny. He wrapped his arms around Ginny, resting his head on hers.

  "Better?" Harry asked, smiling as Ginny gave a contented sigh.

  "Yes… Thanks." Ginny replied, wondering whatever happened to her. When Harry removed his arms from her, she suddenly felt very vulnerable, as if she was facing a dragon, and her wand suddenly disappeared. She had cling on to Harry in blind panic, as the unexplained fear ran rampage inside her, only to disappear when Harry replaced his arms around her. She nested herself deeper into Harry and sighed again. Well, she was not one to give up on a chance to stand close to Harry. 

  Turning her attention back to the scene, she saw that the Death Eaters had gathered in a circle around Dream Harry and Voldemort. Through the gaps in between the ranks of the Death Eaters, she could see that Dream Harry was free now, his wand in his hand. She saw Voldemort raising his wand, and Dream Harry bowing slightly, against his will. Voldemort raise his wand again, and suddenly Dream Harry was screaming, the Cruciatus Curse doing its job very well indeed. Ginny felt Harry's body stiffen behind her, as he remembered the pain.

  Then it stopped, Dream Harry scrambling to his feet and failing, falling towards the ring of Death Eaters and being pushed back on his feet. There he stood, shaking in every limb. She saw Voldemort's mouth move, but couldn't hear what he said. She saw Dream Harry's face wiped blank, then suddenly shouting "I WON'T!!"

  "The Imperio Curse." Harry explained.

  Then Voldemort was raising his wand again, but this time, Dream Harry managed to roll away from the Curse, hiding behind the huge marble tombstone, as the Curse smashed into the tombstone. She watched as Voldemort stalked Dream Harry. Dream Harry suddenly jumped from behind the tombstone, shouting the disarming spell and aiming his wand at Voldemort, even as Voldemort cried out the killing curse. She watched, eyes growing wider, as the two jets of light hit each other, and changed to one single line of gold, joining the two together. Both Dream Harry and Voldemort seems to have trouble with their wands, as they struggled to stop their wands from shaking its way out of their hands.

  "Now things are starting to get interesting…" Harry said, clearly excited, his arms tightening around her for a moment. Ginny was too stunned to reply to that.

  Slowly, both Voldemort and Dream Harry was lifted off their feet, floating free from the circle of Death Eaters, coming to rest in a small clearing beyond. As the Death Eaters rushed to reform the circle, the golden thread suddenly split, as if annoyed at the persistence of the Death Eaters to surround it, sent out numerous tiny threads all over, forming into a cage surrounding Voldemort and Dream Harry. She could see Voldemort yelling something, though she could not hear what. Then a strange sound sprang up, seemingly from the cage of light. It was just about the most beautiful music she had ever heard.

  "Phoenix song…" Ginny heard Harry say, his voice full of awe.

  Large beads began to form on the thread, moving steadily towards Dream Harry. His eyes first grew wide, his whole arm vibrating along with the wand, then focused, forcing the beads to retreat away from him towards Voldemort's wand. Now it was Voldemort's arms turn to vibrate along with his wand. The first bead touched Voldemort's wand…

  Suddenly, Voldemort's wand started screaming. A dense cloud of smoke appeared as soon as the screaming stopped, taking the shape of Cedric. Behind her, Ginny could hear Harry's breath catch, and he gave a little cry, no louder than a whisper. More screams. Then, another cloud appeared, this time an old man. And yet another, a woman now.

  "Bertha Jorkins…" Harry's voice was tight with tears.

  Now another head was coming out from Voldemort's wand, a very familiar head. A splitting image of Harry. So much so that Ginny found herself looking from Dream Harry's face to the one forcing it's way out. 

  "Father…" This time, Ginny felt Harry's tears on her shoulders as Harry's grip tighten with emotions. Ginny place her hands on Harry's and patted them.

  The fifth cloud was appearing from the wand, a young woman. On seeing her, Harry gave another sob, too choked with tears to speak, only to cry. Ginny didn't really need Harry to tell her though. This can only be Harry's mother.

  The shade of Harry's mother walked towards Dream Harry and spoke, then turned to Voldemort. Cedric, too, spoke to Dream Harry. 

  With a yell, Dream Harry wrenched his wand up, breaking the connection between the two wands. Instantly, he turned and ran away, shouldering aside two Death Eaters, the Shades of Voldemort's victims holding Voldemort back. Dodging Curses, Dream Harry ignored Voldemort screaming at his Death Eaters to stun him. Ginny found herself holding her breath as Dream Harry dived behind an angel, avoiding the stunning jets that shot from the Death Eaters wands. He was up and running again in less than a second, stopping two Death Eaters with a wild _Impedimenta _Charm. He jumped over the Triwizard cup and landed beside Cedric's body. Dream Harry grabbed hold of Cedric's wrist, and summoned the cup to him even as Voldemort ran toward him, raising his wand as he ran. The instant Dream Harry's fingers touched the cup, they blinked out of sight, swept away by the Portkey Cup. 

  When Dream Harry disappeared, the surrounding graveyard had also disappeared, fading into nothingness, and they were in the round room again. There they sat, neither felt like moving at all, just holding one other, each lost in the nightmare that they saw.

  "Oh, Harry… I never… I never thought it was as bad as this." Ginny said, breaking the silence.

  "So now you know…" Harry stiffed, wiping his tears on his shirtsleeve. 

  Ginny turned around and flung herself on him, hugging him with all her might. Harry was surprised at first, but soon hugged her back, his hand smoothing her hair.

  "I'm so sorry…" Ginny whispered.

  "Whatever for?" Harry whispered back.

  "In the end I wasn't of any help to you at all…"

  "Don't be silly. Of course you helped." Harry gently pulled Ginny off him, holding her by the shoulders.

  "I did?" Ginny was surprised at that. "But I didn't do anything…"

  "You were there. That's enough for me." Harry answered with a smile. " You've fulfilled my wish, you know that?"

  "Really? What's your wish?" Ginny asked. Finally, she would know Harry's wish.

  "I wished that I wouldn't feel lonely any more." Harry replied, whispering.

  "Oh Harry…"

  Who made the first move, neither of them knew, but they found themselves locked in a kiss. Their first real kiss, they found it to be even better than what they though possible. Sweeter than honey, softer than silk, the taste of it was beyond anything they had ever experience. When they finally surfaced for air, both were grinning rather silly grins.

  "Congratulations." Star's voice echoed throughout the whole room. 

  "Star! Where did you disappear to?" Ginny yelled, looking around the room for any sight of her.

  "My mission has been accomplished, it's time for me to continue my journey." Star replied, her voice growing softer.

  "Will we see you again?" Harry shouted, even though he had only known her for a few hours, he had already come to regarded her as a friend.

  "Maybe, Harry Potter, maybe…" came the answer, even softer now.

  "Goodbye then…" Ginny waved towards the ceiling, sure that Star could see it, even if she can't see Star.

  "Goodbye, Ginny… Goodbye, Harry… Goodbye…" Star's voice trailed away to nothingness.

  The two of them waved till they cannot hear Star's voice anymore before stopping. Harry turned to Ginny, a little red in the face.

  "You know, Ginny. I'm new to this boyfriend thing, so if I make any mistakes…" Harry wasn't allowed to finish before Ginny interrupted.

  "What? Boyfriend?" 

  "Yeah… don't you want me to be…?" Harry was interrupted a second time when Ginny jumped into his arms, hugging him.

  "Of course I'll love to have you as my boyfriend!" Ginny cried. This is too good to be true…

  Harry returned her hug, smiling at the sight of Ginny in his arms. He hoped that he would not mess this up too much…

  "Guess I'll see you at the Hogwarts Express then…" Harry said, a little sad.

  "Yeah… Do you want to be the one to tell Ron, or should I do the honors." Ginny replied.

  "Hmmm… Why don't we surprise him on the train." Harry suggested. 

  "Good idea. That ought to shock a few years off him." Ginny said, nodding happily.

  "I just hope he wouldn't hurt me too badly…" Harry said, a little worried. 

  "Don't worry. He'll come around… sooner or later."

  They just stood there, looking into each other's eyes, each asking themselves how in the world did they get so lucky…

  "Well, see you in a week…" Harry said.

  "You too…"

  A flash of light, and they both disappeared from Tel'anran'rhiod, each to their own bodies, just waking up to a new day.


End file.
